mediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glazemediterranean fruit cake with brandy glaze

The chilly winter months (I feel like it’s freezing here and I don’t remember November being so cold in the past !) lend themselves to and actually encourage, denser, darker cakes filled with sweet dried fruits and a touch of alcohol of course, to better warm your bones ! 

Here’s a version with at least 7 varieties of dried and candied fruits, or up to 10 if you prefer and have them in your pantry. Some are small and some are huge, like diced candied citrus peels, currants, raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, prunes, dates & figs.

There are a few secrets on how to get beautiful slices when you make a fruit cake. It’s all about distributing the dried and candied fruits evenly throughout the cake and getting those same dried and candied fruits to stay where you put them ! The answer is to coat all the fruits in the dry flour mixture and then shake off the excess flour and set them all aside, separately if possible according to each fruit variety, so you can better distribute them throughout the cake in the layers of batter, imagining where you’ll see a flash of red or of green or even seeded figs for gorgeous slices. 

I also present several options, for the level of sweetness : whether sweet or very sweet, as well as for the overall look, flat-top (what I prefer) or domed top, looking more like a regular fruit cake, but why do regular stuff when we live in such irregular times ? Choose your options and do what you like and then adjust your preferences next time.

Anyways, enjoy your weekend & bundle up ! … :)

mediterranean fruit cake with brandy glaze

27.11.2021

1,25 kg cake loaf

ingredients

cake batter dry ingredients :

  • 250 grams (2 cups) white bread flour (or 1 ½ cups white bread flour + ½ cup wholewheat bread flour)
  • 10 grams (2 ½ tsp) baking powder
  • 5 grams (1 ¼ tsp) baking soda
  • 2,5 grams (½ tsp) fine sea salt
  • optional : replace 5 grams (2 tsp) flour with 5 grams (2 tsp) malt powder

cake batter liquid ingredients :

  • *for a very sweet version :
  • 100 grams (½ cup) dark brown sugar, tightly packed (or 50 grams / ¼ cup dark brown sugar + 50 grams / 2 ½ tbsp honey or golden syrup)
  • *or for a less sweet version :
  • 50 grams (¼ cup) dark brown sugar (tightly packed) + 60 ml (¼ cup) apple juice or sweet apple cider
  • 120 grams (½ cup or 2 whole large) eggs
  • 120 grams (½ cup) butter, melted (or ¼ cup butter + ¼ cup olive oil)
  • 120 grams (½ cup) buttermilk or kefir (fermented milk)
  • 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
  • optional : 0,5 gram (¼ tsp) mastic resin crystals, ground

dried & candied fruits (500 grams) :

  • 85 grams (½ cup) dried figs
  • 85 grams (½ cup) dried dates
  • 85 grams (½ cup) dried prunes
  • 85 grams (½ cup) dried apricots
  • 50 grams (¼ cup) raisins (or half raisins + half currants or cranberries)
  • 50 grams (¼ cup) candied cherries
  • 50 grams (¼ cup) candied citrus peel (orange, lemon, lime, etc.)
  • 45 ml (3 tbsp) cognac/brandy or whisky or dark rum, for soaking the raisins and/or currants or cranberries

brandy glaze :

  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) cognac/brandy, whisky or dark rum (recuperated from the macerated small dried fruits)
  • 100 grams (¾ cup) icing sugar

instructions

  • combine the flour(s) with the salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside
  • soak the raisins or other small fruits in the brandy (or whisky or dark rum) for at least 30 minutes, then strain, pat dry and reserve the remaining alcohol
  • toss the larger whole dried or candied fruits (one variety at a time) in the flour mixture, then place in a sieve and shake off excess flour and set each fruit variety aside and continue with each variety of dried and/or candied fruit until all are coated (there is no need to coat the small diced citrus peels)
  • beat the melted butter (and/or oil) with the sugar (and honey and/or apple juice or cider) until fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, then add the buttermilk and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth
  • sift the flour mixture into the mixed liquid batter and stir until well combined, add the diced candied fruits and raisins and mix
  • preheat the oven to 230°C with the oven rack in the middle
  • use a large 6-cup (1,5 liter) loaf tin, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with flour until well coated, then tap the excess flour out
  • place one-third of the batter in the loaf tin, then arrange a mixture of half of the larger dried and candied fruits on top (figs, dates, prunes, apricots, cherries), then add one-third more cake batter on top and arrange the other half of the dried and candied fruits and finally add the remaining one third of cake batter on top, smooth out until flat
  • lower the oven heat to 165°C (as you place the cake in the oven)
  • version 1 : for a flat-topped fruit cake, cover the loaf tin with aluminum foil and seal the edges and bake for 35 minutes covered and then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 30-35 minutes uncovered
  • version 2 : for a domed-top fruit cake, bake the cake as is and uncovered for 50-55 minutes
  • remove the cake from the oven when ready, puffed and golden and let cool down for 10-15 minutes before carefully removing from the loaf tin
  • combine the alcohol (brandy/cognac or whisky or dark rum with the icing sugar until thick and smooth, use a pastry brush to brush it all over the top surface and let the glaze drip on the sides, then let the glaze harden for several hours before cutting and serving
  • store the cake wrapped in baking paper in the refrigerator for up to 1 week …

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